Well, he had to find out he kept prophetic nightmares *sometime*...

[capital_asset]

I'm a bit concerned about the timing of this given that we haven't been back in Liminal Space for very long, but apparently I also came away from Harrogate with prophetic dreams, and this one seems... oddly Liminal-focused.

It featured an overly gaudy gilt-and-velvet theatre, mostly decorated in red and black. Travelers who sat in the general seating area were immediately handcuffed in place, although they could be freed with assistance from another Traveler. The box seats contained spinning beds like the one in Lovers' area during the extended Liminal stay prior to the start of phase three, and the onstage "entertainment" consisted of reenactments of Jaunt events using Traveler-shaped puppets on golden chains. There was also music, but I can't identify it - I think it might be some kind of Western classical music.

I can share the memory if anyone wants to see or hear it for themselves; I just didn't want to get the melody stuck in anyone's heads without warning.

[For those who take him up on this offer, this is the musical accompaniment.]

Comments

Guess who also kept prophetic nightmares

[youandyoualone]

I too had a disconcerting dream, that I believe might have been a Liminal Space as well.

It was a plaza or pavilion with many fountains and also statuary that seemed to commemorate various Jaunts. But the statues were weather-beaten and the fountains were not only in ruins, but instead of water they belched forth colored flame or sparks and the wind, which was passing strong, blew these sparks about. At first I thought I would be burned by it. I was not, but when the sparks hit my face I heard a crashing sound in my ears, like cymbals, and I swiftly grew disoriented.

[awondrousplace]

The music is called Night on Bald Mountain. It's... extremely Russian and very full of doom and... well, some people said devil worship, but who really knows with the Russians.

[otomechapilot]

...and it's in a movie by Walt Disney. Again.

That part of the movie was about a demon in a volcano. Or the Devil in a volcano.

[capital_asset]

What movie was that?

[otomechapilot]

Fantasia, with an F. It's a bunch of short cartoons to old songs.

Really hope the Arcana don't get other ideas, like the one with the wizard hat.

[capital_asset]

[Oh - he knows that movie. Claudia'd told him about it once.]

That'd be Chernobog, wouldn't it? Or some version of him, anyway.

Wizard hat?

[otomechapilot]

I don't actually know the demon's name, just that it came from a volcano and the music.

The wizard hat from Sorcerer's Apprentice, one of the cartoons? It gave Mickey Mouse magic he couldn't control.

[capital_asset]

I really only know because Claudia mentioned it once; I've not seen the movie.

[The Chernobog he knows is very, very different.]

Mickey Mouse?

[breakaleginhalf]

Dude.

[he sounds excited]

Come by my place, we can watch some Disney movies. I have Fantasia, it's like a series of movies inspired by and set to classical music. One of them's got Mickey Mouse, he's like Disney's poster child.

[capital_asset]

Which devil?

[awitchdidit]

Hmph. I've seen that setup before I came to Liminal. If it was the same source, though, I'd have expected it right after Harrogate. Probably one of those repeated symbols you see in dreams...

[capital_asset]

What source, if you don't mind my asking? Or is that not a topic you'd want to discuss?

[awitchdidit]

I'm fine with it, though I'll spare some details. Such a setup was once used by Bernkastel in her capacity as miko to the Witch of Theatergoing, whose face was worn by the Crawling Chaos during our trip to Harrogate. I doubt there's a specific connection, however. For one thing, I can't imagine any of them repeating a performance.

[capital_asset]

Witch of Theatergoing?

[He's still a bit fuzzy on the concept of Umineko-style witches, although he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious.]

[awitchdidit]

An incredibly powerful Creator Witch. Far beyond the power of humans or demons into the realm of a god or demiurge. She had an unfortunate habit of sitting back with popcorn and watching Bernkastel cause chaos, although that was only one reason for her epithet. She enjoyed observing in general, which made her probably as powerful as Nyarlathotep, but only a fraction as dangerous.

[capital_asset]

...Charming.

But certainly better than a number of alternatives.

[awitchdidit]

Honestly, she could be reasoned with. That's far more than I expect from a fellow Witch. She was closer to the Arcana in attitude, or at least the more talkative ones.

[capital_asset]

Are Witches fairly widespread in your world? [He pauses.] Although that seems like the sort of thing you'd want to keep quiet even if you were.

[fridgeninja]

Chains and puppets... and similarities to PSYCHE-chan... it sounds like something MALBOLGE would do.

[capital_asset]

The post-Jaunt Liminal that followed the Grid had people handcuffed, didn't it? Devil was heavily involved in that Jaunt...

[fridgeninja]

That's right. I was dead at the time, so I wound up in a cell instead.

[capital_asset]

[Right. The cells. Raidou generally tries not to think about that Liminal too closely, given the state he'd been in at the end of the Jaunt.]

That was a chaotic Liminal.

[fridgeninja]

Even by Liminal standards.

It's the first time they started answering questions for us, too.

[capital_asset]

Right... the phones.

[He'd practically tied himself into knots trying to avoid wasting his question.]

[fridgeninja]

In any case, I thought we'd eliminated Devil-san from play already.

If not... we may have to try harder.